Boards Underwater
Can Associations Float When Units are Sinking?

Global financier JP Morgan Chase owes the Keys Gate Community Association, Inc.,
in Homestead almost $20,000. The bank foreclosed on the borrower of a condominium unit and took title to it,
then paid no maintenance fees for almost two years.

Ben Solomon, managing partner at Association Law Group, a Miami-based law firm
specializing in collections, says JP Morgan Chase recently “dumped the unit at its own foreclosure sale (at less than 25 percent of its
original loan amount) to an unsuspecting purchaser, who will now be held
jointly and severally responsible with JP Morgan for the past due amounts,” Solomon says.

The association sued the bank. When JP Morgan Chase did not respond to the
association’s lawsuit, the association asked the court for a summary judgment. The request
is pending.

A recent article in the Palm Beach Postdetails a situation involving a foreclosed condo belonging to Wells Fargo bank.
Wells Fargo Bank is responsible for a West Palm condo unit that they foreclosed
on because of an unpaid $197,000 mortgage. The bank took ownership of the empty
condo last year. As in the above situation, the bank never paid the $260
monthly maintenance fees to the association. And to make matters worse, the
physical condition of the bank’s empty condo deteriorated.

A mold issue developed due to a faulty washer-dryer hookup, according to
association president Alan Meltzer, who has made a point of going after the
bank to fix the unit. “We had to gut the apartment,” Meltzer told the newspaper. “It was a big job. They had to go in with hazmat suits.” The Forest Condominium Association filed a lien against the bank, estimating
that the mold repairs and the accumulating monthly maintenance fees owed by
Wells Fargo to the association was $23,210.

Developers Property Markets Group (PMG) and Greybrook Realty Partners have secured a $161.5 million development loan for their upcoming co-living apartment tower at 400 Biscayne Blvd. in downtown Miami.
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Sellers of luxury real estate haven’t been having the easiest time offloading their pricey properties this year, but that hasn’t stopped people from listing those über-expensive apartments anyway—often with eye-popping price tags.
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A crane being used for seawall repair slid off a barge and struck the roof of a nearby condominium building in North Miami Beach, the safety manager of the construction project told Local 10 News.
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Many homes across the United States are part of an HOA, or homeowners association. So what does that mean?
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9/4/2019
The robotic garage at this Brickell condo broke. Now the developer must pay $40.6 million - Miami Herald

9/4/2019
The robotic garage at this Brickell condo broke. Now the developer must pay $40.6 million - Miami Herald

The developer of the 46-story BrickellHouse condominium tower in Miami that made news in 2015 over its failed robotic parking garage has been ordered to pay $40.6 million in reparations to the condo association that dealt with the aftermath of the debacle.
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9/4/2019
Hurricane Dorian spared South Florida but will still cost developers and contractors - The Real Deal

9/4/2019
Hurricane Dorian spared South Florida but will still cost developers and contractors - The Real Deal

Most general contractors are back to work in South Florida, after securing and shutting down their job sites last week in anticipation of Hurricane Dorian’s arrival.
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9/3/2019
Channel Islands businessman buys unit at The Bristol in West Palm - The Real Deal

9/3/2019
Channel Islands businessman buys unit at The Bristol in West Palm - The Real Deal

A British businessman bought a unit at The Bristol in West Palm Beach for $10.7 million as the luxury condo development continues to set pricing records for the city.
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9/3/2019
Cat 3 Hurricane Dorian Crawling To Northwest - CBS Miami

9/3/2019
Cat 3 Hurricane Dorian Crawling To Northwest - CBS Miami

Hurricane Dorian is crawling to the northwest as it continues to hammer Grand Bahama Island.
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Floridians awoke Labor Day to find that Hurricane Dorian had yet to turn north away from the coast as expected, instead stalling to an agonizing crawl while continuing to pound the Bahamas with winds of 165 miles per hour.
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8/30/2019
Hurricane Dorian: What does insurance cover after a disaster? - USA Today

8/30/2019
Hurricane Dorian: What does insurance cover after a disaster? - USA Today

As Hurricane Dorian hurtles toward Florida, you may wonder how well your homeowners or renters insurance will hold up in a natural disaster.
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Sunny Isles Beach gave preliminary approval to a moratorium on real estate development in an area with low- and mid-rise buildings on the west side of Collins Avenue, across from a high-rise row of oceanfront condo towers.
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The South Florida Cooperator

Welcome to the online edition of The South Florida Cooperator newspaper. The publication serves the South Florida Condo, HOA and Co-op community with informative free articles on management, finance, maintenance and more...